49 new satellites are launched into space by SpaceX
The private company SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A Falcon 9 rocket from the private company SpaceX took off on Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA), with 49 Starlink broadband Internet satellites on board, after verifying that the environmental conditions were optimal for the mission.
According to SpaceX, an organization created by South African business visionary and investor Elon Musk, the mission aims to place the Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. The altitude of this "low orbit" would be between 130 and 210 miles.
The mission, dubbed Starlink 4-6, is the third shipment in 2022 of SpaceX's Falcon 9.
From Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Headquarters in Florida, the rocket blasted off Tuesday at 9:02 p.m. ET to begin a synchronized deployment, 15 minutes before carrying all 49 Starlink satellites to the space.
Some time later, the Falcon 9 rocket propellant returned to the space base to be reused.
The first stage booster, number B1060, made its 10th sortie and arrived again on an automated stage in the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Bahamas.
SpaceX would have delayed the takeoff initially reserved for Monday night to provide better conditions in the rocket's arrival area in the Atlantic.
Other SpaceX missions
According to information provided by the spaceflightnow.com website, this is the 137th shipment of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010 and the 35th with the same Starlink reusable propellant to carry satellites into space.
On January 13, SpaceX also launched more than 100 small satellites from Cape Canaveral, including six from the Spanish company Fossa Systems and the Argentine small satellite "General San Martín".
This mission is essential for the "Starlink" program, as it aims to place a huge number of satellites in space to create a broadband internet system.
As well, it matters to NASA's public-private partnership with SpaceX, the rocket organization created in 2002 by Musk, who is also CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla.